OCR

10
Kidnapped Dick.
if they had notl
with the Whigs, I suppose,
beginning of the
treated me so badly at the
war.”
“ What did they do to you?"
“A party of them came to
which was many miles below here. They came
in the night, and wanted me to join them. I re-
fused. because I had not made up my mind to
the right of the matter, and became I wanted to
remain peaceably at home with my family.
They bound me, took me out into the forest,
and lashed me until I could no longer stand u ).
They murdered my child, a bright little girl,
and my wife died of fright. Then they burned
my house, carried away my sla.V0:<, and destroy-
ed my farm, leaving me nothing but pain and
my plantation,
remembrance. I have sworn vengeance against
all the Whigs, and not one of that party is liw
in? today.”
‘They deserved to die. If they had treated
me in that way, I would have luinted them
down, if it had taken all my life."
“I then swore ven;:eanre against all the
Whigs, Dicky, and now it has conie to this pftss‘,
that my hand is a<.:ainst every luau except my
own followers. and they only stand by me be-
cause they want to keep their necks out of
halters and to not money. I could notbe honest
now, if I wished to, for the British officers would
not let me.”
Thus the man and the boy <-onversezl, until '
they reached the swavnp that furnished them
with a. home and a hiding-place.
CHAPTER V.
MALACIII IS SMITTEN.
VVHEN Van Vorst re.-turnr-<1 to the island vile-
lage, he sent Twn Mrirphy to the Coosaw, to
make arran,-.:e'ne.-nts for the shipment of another
cargo of negroras; and when Ilivxrphy eame back,
he was accoiupanie l. to the s'11I‘])I‘is‘ and Illigllit
of his comvnanrler, by .lIala('hi Slivkv:-r. Van
Vorst received the Yankee quite un;.;rar-iou<ly,
but could not turn him away, and vented his
wrath upon his subordinate.
“Why did you bring that fellow here?" he j
asked.
“ I didn’t bring him. (‘.'1p'n,” replied Murphy;
“ he just came of his own at-r-orrl, and he stuck
to me like a. leecli. I would like to know how I 3
was to shake him off." '
As there was no help for it, V.-in Voiut was
obliged toendure the ]ll‘I’w‘l‘ll(‘0 of the Yanlce.-,
who at once m"u1e, himself f)ll’I“,l0ll.s'.'ll1-‘l(lls:1;;]‘(- --
able, by prying int) every hole and 1-1)1'm-1' of‘
the island. and asking quz-<tious of every one ho
met. Before he havl ha.-on two hour; in Thu
camp, he had examined the cmitmitg of thql
cabins, and had learned the exaw! lIll’llli'-1‘ of ,
men that rronstitutol the l).'1n.d,to':mhwr with’
details <-our-erninrr their arms, or:::mization.
customs, and met iod of operations. None of:
the men could have told from whom he llfitl re.
.
waived his information, as all lnui lawn ".'n'vI'uHy ,
uncoininunieative; but he hm] ,1‘.-z,.-.1 jz HI,‘ 1,5
a way of his own, and had addai that umvb to
his Stork of useful knou‘lwl;.:o to ho U.'llpln‘.'v'tl if
oveasion should ever will for it. A
Van Vorst, was about to start on unovher ex-
P"‘lifivvvi for the purpose of procuring; ll6',’.'l‘lr('.s, V
um) .. awn as Malachi got wind of it, he om.-r- l
l
r
l
mined to be one of the party. When he made
known his wish to the ranger, he was met by 8.
decided refusal; but he was not a man to be so
easily rebuffed, and he stuck to his pointnas
Murphy had said, like a leech, so that it was un-
possible to shake him off.
“ I just want; to go along, cap’n," said he, “ f0
see how you do the business. I don’t want to
steal your trade, and I guess I couldn’t carry it
on if I should steal it: but all kinds of knowledge
are apt to be useful to a man in times like
these.”
“ But we are going to ride, Malachi. and I
don’t know where to find a horse for you.”
“ No trouble about that, cap’n; I can find one
easy enough. There‘s a dozen horses out yonder
under cove ' of the trees, and that makes forty.
and forty horses are more than enough for
twenty-eight men, as I calculate. Besides, you
ain’t going to take more than half the men, and
that makes it plain sailing for Malachi Slieker.
I guess you are only joking, cap’n. or you don‘!
want me to go; but you needn’t try to put me
off, for I am bound to be one of that party.”
“I would like to know how you learned so
much about my horses and my men.”
“ I just picked it up, by asking here and there,
and by looking around.”
“I must say, Malachi, Without meaning any
offense to you, that I wish you would attend to
your own affairs, instead of trying to satisfy
your curiosity about my camp. It you will go
I suppose you must, though I had much rather
you wouldn‘t, and would rather you had stayed
on board the Firefly.”
“ Don’t get huffy, cap’n. and don’t go against
your own interests, for that is the most foolish
thing a man can do. I am a good friend of
yours, capln, as you will see if I have a chance
to prove it, and I may give you a few notions
that may be worth money to you.”
“'hen Van Vorst set out on his slave-huntin;:
‘ expedition, Malachi Slieker made himself one of
the party, and he insisted on riding at the front.
in the company of the ranger and Dick, thus
effeetiially putting a bar upon the unrestrained
('onVe1‘sati0I1 in which they were wont to in-
tllilge.
In due time the marauding party arrived at
its de,-stiuation, which proved to be the estate of
‘ ( ll ilonc,-1 Forrest. the father of the young partisan
lv-rule-1'. Van Vorst knew that Harry Forrest
had .-i;,rain crossed the Combahee, or gone into
hiding. and he had sotimed his movement that
he had no fear of being molested by Major
(‘onivmsby and his squadron.
He found the coast clear and quiet. and was
re-v‘eiv+-rl with manifest disgust and dismay by
the old r-olonel, his wife, and their dark-eVi‘d
rlauglirer Mary. Here. as he had done at Mrs.
Swimon‘<, he ordered the slaves to bo paraded
before him, so that he might choose Inch as
would suit his purpose, and here. also, he was
told to get them himself if he wanted them. His
fr>llnW('r‘s' were set at work to bring them in, but
Hwy were not as siiecessfiil as they had been on
the pm-vioils raid, for most of the 119;",-1'oes had
antir-i;‘atv-cl them by running’ away and hiding
flu-vim-lves in a swamp that lay about half a
mile fmm the liouse. A few old women, (‘hil'lI‘I‘H
and other Straggle:-s, were got together, from